Changing the way we teach Language and Literacy

As we continue to grapple with the low pass rates in CSEC English, the Jamaican Ministry of Education (MOE) has implemented various strategies including the previously mentioned Alternative Pathway for Secondary Education. To recap, the Alternative Pathway for Secondary Education embraces pedagogical conventions such as differentiated instruction and constructivist theory. Nevertheless, there seems to be an unwillingness on the part of the Jamaican MOE in its national language policy to accept more socio-cultural approaches to education which will produce the infusion of students' sub-cultural backgrounds in the classroom. Fully embracing a socio-cultural approach will give rise to teachers honoring their students' native languages and different forms of knowing such singing, storytelling and drama and using these as legitimate tools in instruction.  If the MOE embraces and promotes a more socio-cultural approach in its language policy, then more teachers may also see the need to use their students' sub-cultural backgrounds in most of their lessons rather than using them as add-ons as it is widely practiced in Jamaica. This change in pedagogic practices, in our estimation, will lead to more student engagement which may also lead to more learning in the English language and literacy classrooms.